Nonlinear Programming of Field and Plant Vegetable Processing ActivitiesReedRobert H.BolesJames N.1963Empirical studies of plant costs and efficiency always
have stressed the importance of both size of plant and
length of operating season on the level and shape of
the economies of scale curve as well as the technical
organization of production implied in it. Because
most processing firms are integrated systems of product
assembly, processing, and distribution, the minimum-
cost combination of plant size and hours
operated must be considered in terms of total operation,
not of any single "stage" or component. This
paper presents a method for determining optimum
combinations of hours of operation and size of plant
(as measured by rates of output) for two components,
field and plant operations, of an integrated
system of preparing lima beans for freezing.
Though the analysis is oriented to only two "stages"
and a particular product, the authors are hopeful
that it may point the way toward extension to addi-tional "stages" and other products.1489